Statement about Brooks Ayers of 'Real Housewives of Orange County'

This is a follow-up to a 20/20 report broadcast June 29, 2012 concerning Brooks Ayers of "Real Housewives of Orange County."

The report said, among other things, that Ayers had left his former girlfriend Nicolette Catanzarite with unpaid medical bills relating to the birth of their son Joey in December 2008, that Ayers had not visited or communicated with Joey since he was 5 or 6 months old, and that Catanzarite had been unable to locate Ayers until he was first referred to on "Real Housewives" in 2011.

We want to clarify that Ayers' insurance paid for most of Joey's medical expenses arising from the birth, although not Catanzarite's; that Ayers provided rent money and certain other expenses to Catanzarite for a time after Joey was born; and that Ayers saw Joey a number of times after their break-up in May 2009, the last being July or August 2010 when Joey was 19 or 20 months old. We also wanted to clarify that Ayers and Catanzarite have communicated periodically since that time, and that when Catanzarite was in California in January 2012, she met with Ayers and his girlfriend.

In a statement to ABC, Ayers says that he "hopes to resolve his disputes with Nicolette soon."